Wolverine247 Board

Clearly OSU wasn't a great team this year. But we found a way to win each game. Like UM found a way to beat Air Force,Northwestern and MSU. I think its silly to put down OSU's out of conference schedule when UM's B1G schedule was very weak(no Wisky, no PSU) and you only managed an 8-4 record. Could easily be 7-5 or 6-6 if those teams are on schedule.
I think both teams have serious questions going into 2013. OSU's LBs and CBs(especially if Roby leaves). UM's offense should be a huge concern. How long will Gardner stay healthy with Roundtree gone, an unproven line and recievers. The LBs look solid, but what about the DL and DBs?
Lets see how it plays out. By the way, I thought college football in general wasn't all that great. Why OSU went 12-0 and Notre Dame is in the Title game.

I think there are many factors to consider, and when I say all this I admit there may be slight homerism, but ill do my best to be unbiased:

1) early part of the season we were adjusting to a new system. Caused us to look pedestrian in many games, especially early in the season. And that goes for both sides of the ball.

2) by end of season we looked much better. Our schedule was not something the players control. They play. That's all they can do. The penn state and wisconsin games were both on the road. Frankly, we dominated penn state. Wasn't as close as the final score as they scored two touchdowns in garbage time.

3) it takes two thing to be undefeated: you must be a very good team, and you must have some luck. Without luck, every team in the country loses at least one game. Show me one undefeated team in history without any lucky close games. Ill wait....

4) we get knocked for barely winning games, but truth is that the landscape of college football is changing. Mid level teams are getting good talent and learning how to develop them. The big difference between a team likenohio state and a team like UCF is depth. Their starting lineup in not a roll over and get beat type of team. I personally do not expect to see teams winning OOC games by an average of 50 anymore. At least not all of them. As many posters have stated, we were not the only team this year to "barely" beat many teams. Very good teams find ways to win. To me, knowing how to finish is actually a very tough quality to keep all season and the bucks were one of the best teams in the country and knowing how to finish this season. That is coaching. Period.

All of this to say, I do believe we are a top 5 team this year. Do we beat bama? Maybe, maybe not. We can each have our opinions, but we will all truly never know. I have seen Meyer coach his teams up throughout the years, not just this buckeye team. The man simply is good at game planning. Do we beat Oregon, Notre Dame, Florida, LSU, KSU? Maybe not ten out of ten times. But we could beat any of those teams sometimes. Our trench play was as good as any in the country. Later in the season, our O line and D line were dominant.

Good thread and a lot of great views on this topic

I think the expectations for Michigan for this year was down for many reasons. I think average prediction was 9-3, so 8-4 was a slight disappointment. Not fall-flat-on-your-face, but definitely not meeting the bar.

Tell me...what are the Buckeyes expectations for next year?

Most of my friends in Columbus think anything less than a perfect season is a disappointment...and these are Buckeye fans. That is simple reality.

Flat on your face, with those kind of expectations, is probably anything more than 2 losses.

You got me thinking, I might my wife's opinion. Prolly get another "eww" out of her.

Don't like this thread, don't open it up and read it then.

This is an MICHIGAN board, we aren't exactly going to be catering towards OSU fans.

Your average prediction was 2 losses or less from what i saw.

If Roby returns there is an excellent shot to run the table again when you factor in schedule, scheme familiarity etc. No more than 1 loss during the season is my prediction. Then it depends on Bowl match up

Most expected us to go 8-4 or 9-3, so not really.

You beat us by 5 points in Columbus. If we had swapped scbedules, we would be 12-0 and you would be 8-4. You're blind if you can't see that.

Sorry i don't see it, i just dont think anyone in the big ten was very good, including osu or michigan.....

You do realize that is a tired comment right? I mean the whole bowl thing is only relevant to those who have not beat us since they can not say they beat us. Kind of old and unoriginal. Cute though if that is all you've got.